Indigenous fashion week in Vancouver to celebrate ‘cultural appreciation’
Organizers of Vancouver’s first indigenous-focused fashion week say the event will celebrate “cultural appreciation” for designers and creators who are used to seeing their work appropriated by others.
Vancouver-born producer Joleen Mitton says the four-day showcase will feature collections from about 32 designers, most of whom are indigenous.
The models are also mostly indigenous, and will include former and current foster care kids — a vulnerable group that often struggles with identity and self-acceptance, says Mitton, whose heritage is a mix of Plains Cree, French and Scottish.
“A lot of these kids don’t feel that they’re visible because they’ve been discarded by their family a lot of times and obviously you don’t see indigenous people in media,” says the 33-year-old, who began modelling at age 15 and now works with disenfranchised youth in Vancouver.